A Framework for Advancing Excellence

At the U.T. System Board of Regents' meeting in August 2011, I presented an action plan for implementing the Framework for Advancing Excellence throughout The University of Texas System.

The Framework has received an overwhelmingly positive response from educators and policymakers across the nation. I was invited to the White House to discuss the Framework and other educational issues with the President, the Secretary of Education, and a distinguished group of national leaders in higher education. They conveyed to me that our Framework Action Plan is addressing the challenges and opportunities of higher education in the 21st century.

This is the first annual progress report on the implementation of the Framework Action Plan's nine major areas of focus. We are tracking every initiative at a granular level. Some initiatives have been completed; for others we have built the infrastructures that will yield substantive results over time.

The futures of our children and our grandchildren are at stake. How do we make higher education more accessible and affordable to an increasing number of students? How do we produce more doctors, nurses, and health professionals, and improve the quality of healthcare in Texas?

This process is engaging hundreds of us in a team effort – not only from U.T. institutions but experts and consultants beyond our campuses. We will succeed if we continue to work together to transform higher education at all University of Texas institutions.

Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D.
Chancellor, The University of Texas System